A Flea in One’s Ear

While editing a scene in my work-in-progress, I pulled back to consider whether a particular character would say, “I’m going to send her packing with a flea in her ear.” Then, being me, I had to look up the phrase’s origin AND ensure I was using it correctly. It’s a wonder I ever finish writing a scene, let alone a novel.

The first place I often tap into is a resource that details idioms and/or the first use of words or phrases. It is the English Language & Usage site on Stack Exchange. One caveat is the answers are crowd sourced. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as people from the US, Great Britain, and around the world answer. Sometimes they give fascinating country-specific answers. Many are backed up with documentation.

I found several entries that connect the phrase, “a flea in his ear” with the verb rebuke. While the phrase means to give a stern lecture or criticize sharply or scold vehemently, there seems an added compnent that part of the idiom’s definition includes a call to action. Either requiring the rebuked person to act or banishing them (sending them packing).

According to a post on The Content Authority, the idiom is “a figurative phrase that conveys the notion of someone being persistently nagged, bothered, or urged to take action.” The site claims the phrase’s origin comes from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. There, the site’s author links it to one of Benedick’s speeches. They didn’t do much poking around as:

From a secondhand source, I discovered a reference to the idiom as early as 1430. “And manye oothere grete wundres [ye haue seyd] whiche ben fleen in myne eres [F. puces es oreilles]. . . This popped up on the site, phrases.org.UK where they cite the Oxford English Dictionary.

I searched on those quoted words and found a reprinted text of the referenced 1430 book. Guillaume, de Deguileville. The pilgrimage of the lyf of the manhode, edited by William Aldis Wright. JB Nichols, 1869. Internet Archive Link.

And manye oothere grete wundres whiche ben fleen in myne eres.
(My translation) And many other great wonders which (have) been fleas in my ears.

I find it fascinating tracing the phrase’s origin as far back as possible. Another blog linked it to a medieval French idiom “mettre la puce à l’oreille” meaning the same thing–to put a flea in one’s ear–and it’s a familiar one in Italian too: “mettere una pulce nell’orecchio.” Here, it has more sexual connotations, argues the poster. However it still carries the implication of “a doubt or suspicion … being planted in the ‘victim’s’ head.” The flea getting in through the ear to the head to make the person doubt.

Finally, I looked at the homophones: flea and flee.
flea, n. is a wingless, bloodsucking insect. Word origin: Middle English fle, from Old English flēa; akin to Old High German flōh flea (Merriam-Webster Online)
flee, v. to run away, often from danger; to hurry to a place of security. Middle English flen, from Old English flēon; akin to Old High German fliohan to flee (Merriam-Webster Online)
While I harbored an idea of a link between flea and flee as far as word origins, there is none.

As far as my original phrase that set this off: “I’m going to send her packing with a flea in her ear.” Do I need to specify the action or can my character say she’ll give the woman a flea in her ear?

Oh, dear. More to ponder.

October 8, 2025 Book Hooks

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